Djerbahood’s Street Art 🎨 But Not Its Synagogue 🕍 Erriadh, Djerba

Day 152. 36km (80222kms 7yrs)

After a rare non-sweaty sleep in an air-conditioned room I was refreshed for a day of exploring. Leaving the bike at the Maison de Jeunese I visited the folk museum which along with the fort had been closed yesterday. I found an amazing little place with superb displays on the island’s agriculture, aquaculture, and wedding customs of the island’s inhabitants, including its 1000 odd Jewish residents.

After collecting my bike I made my way south to the village of Erriadh - famous for two things from what I can gather - the oldest synagogue in Tunisia which being a Saturday was closed to visitors, and Djerbahood - a suburb of street art. In 2014, 150 artists from 30 countries came to the village painting 250 murals and stencils onto the whitewashed walls of the village’s traditional medina. The result is a wonderful outdoor gallery of modern art. Many pieces are faded but I also noticed some new additions dated to this decade. Without a map I wound my way around this maze of discovery until I began revisiting some spots for the third time, even so I’m sure I didn’t find half of the 250 paintings on offer.

It was disappointing not to be able to visit the famous synagogue, closely monitored by cameras and a gun-toting soldier, but I couldn’t afford to delay yet another day. Instead I set off for the beach where I was hoping for a last island swim and beach camp on the west coast. Instead I arrived to find what I’d imaged to be a remote and secluded spot behind some low dunes, rammed with beach-goers. The women waded in fully dressed, and with absolutely no shade to be had on the sand there was no reason for me to stay.

Continuing south I spotted the unmistakable grey outline of a partial build and arrived to find recent tyre tracks in the sand but no equipment to indicate ongoing work. Best of all it had a rooftop from which I could still enjoy a west coast sunset.

At dusk a shepherd moved through a nearby field with his flock before all was still for the night.

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